Doctor wearing romper says she was body shamed by American Airlines flight crew

By Gary Dinges gdinges@gatehousemedia.com

Thursday

Jul 11, 2019 at 1:47 PMJul 11, 2019 at 1:47 PM

A Texas doctor says she was body shamed by an American Airlines flight crew that refused to let her fly until she covered up the romper she was wearing.

Dr. Tisha Rowe was flying from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami with her son when the incident occured. Rowe had already boarded when she was asked to deplane and speak with an airline employee, according to Houston TV station KTRK.

"She just said, 'You're not getting on here like that,' " Rowe told Houston TV station KPRC. "I knew exactly how it looked from the front and the back. I was comfortable, and so I stood up for myself, but I was powerless at that moment."

She ultimately covered herself with a blanket so she could reboard.

Rowe, who is black, believes racism may have been at play. She said there were passengers of other races aboard the plane with similar outfits who were not told to cover up.

"I said, 'If I was a white woman, you would not have pulled me off this plane,' and she said, 'This is not discrimination,' and I said, 'Absolutely it is,' " Rowe said.

The physician tweeted about the incident, generating a considerable amount of support on social media. She also, eventually, got an apology from Fort Worth, Texas-based American.

So#AmericanAirlines just told me I couldn’t board the flight without putting a jacket over my ASSETS. My shorts covered EVERYTHING but apparently was too distracting to enter the plane. I guess that’s why they are AMERICAN airlines ‍....@AmericanAir

— Tisha Rowe MD, MBA (@tisharowemd)June 30, 2019

American provided KTRK with this written statement: "We were concerned about Dr. Rowe's comments, and reached out to her and our team at the Kingston airport to gather more information about what occurred. We apologize to Dr. Rowe and her son for their experience, and have fully refunded their travel. We are proud to serve customers of all backgrounds and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us."

Rowe, however, says the apology isn't enough. She has retained a lawyer but has not yet filed any sort of lawsuit against the carrier.